Game



C. W. MAY

June 16, 1942.

GAME

Filed July 16, 1940 lNVENTOR [lg dz 7K May ATTORNEY I children addition,

and spelling.

Patented June 16, 1942 'UNETED STATE-S -EPATENT OFFICE GAME Clyde W. May, Lancaster, Pa., assignorto Grey Iron Casting. Company, Mount Joy, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 16', 1940, Serial No. 345,704

4 Claims.

Thepresent invention relates to games and emore particularly to a game of jackstones and to. improved jackstones for use therein.

Ordinary jackstones, commonly referred to as "jacks, comprise six-legged articles that may be easily picked up from a surface onto which they --are' thrown during the playing of the game. The ."gfiJl'lBiJf jackstones is widely played by 'young children and is performed by throwing a number of 'jackstones, usually five or six, onto a smooth surface; the jackstones are then picked up either singly or in'groups to the accompaniment of a bouncing ball. The old and well-known game offers amusement to children.

The present invention aims to provide a game having the amusement features of ja'ckstones stones of the present invention easily cast and :;areconstructed to permit a child to pick them up with ease either singly or in groups.

.An object of the present invention is to provide t a newv educational and entertaining game.

Another object of the invention is to provide a game adapted to teach children the appearance 1: of numerals and of the letters of thealphabet.

Another object of the invention is to teach A further object of the invention is to provide -an improved jackstone having advantages over known jackstones.

Other and further objects of the invention will "be obvious upon an understanding ofthe illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various 'advantages not referred to herein will occur to :one skilled in the art upon emloyment of the invention .in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description I and is shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the specification wherein:

Figs. 1 to 9 inclusive are perspective views of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 10 is an elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3;

subtraction, multiplication .Figs. lland l2 illustrate modified forms-of the invention; and

Fig. 13 illustrates a still further modification of the invention.

Referring again to the drawing, and more particularlyv to Figs. 1 to 8, there is shown a set of 'jackstones, each jackstone comprising a main body portion I having outwardly extending supporting members '2. The characters in Figs. 1 to 8 are in the shapeof the numbers 1- to 9 inclusive. The digital characters '9 and 6 are similar but are preferablyof a diiferent color so as to facilitate distinguishing them from each other. The main body portions l of the characters are preferably rounded, lie substantially in a. single plane and maybe easily read. They may be; formed with configurations conforming to any-suitable style of type.

The supporting members 2 serve to hold the 1 characters in various elevated or raised positions so that theywill not lie flat and so that they may groups during the playing of a game.

be readily picked up either separately or in The supporting members 2 of each character preferably extend outwardly from a point adjacent the central or mid-portions of the character, the supportingmembers being preferably two in number and located at opposite sides of the "character.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention each of the supporting members-is shown as having a lengthequal to about one-half the. height "of a' character. portion of the characters and supporting members :provides jackstones which, when tossed on toaffloor orother surface, will readily tumble It has been found that this prosanduroll' about into numerous diverse combinaitions. The present characters cannot lie flat regardless of 'the positions in which they'may fall;

' the present game.

the configurations of the main body portions are readily .discelnible and they 'may be easily -'picked up.

Various rules. may be. promulgated for playing For example, players may be required topick up characterstin a certain se- .quence orto pick up characters which add up to give: totals. The players' may also be required to pick up charactersand subtract them from a certain given figure. If desired, a character in the shape of a multiplication sign, X, may be included for playing games involving multiplication. The possible variations are numerous.

In Fig. 9 the invention is shown embodied in a jackstone having a main body portion 4 in the shape of a letter of the alphabet. Supporting members 5 similar to those described in conters of the alphabet, all depending upon the imagination and the ingenuity of the players, for example, the spelling out of words, addition, subtraction and multiplication. If desired, a game may be played which includes both numerals and letters.

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate modifications of the invention wherein jackstones in the shape of numeral or letter characters! and 8, respectively, have supporting members I and II positioned adjacent the ends of the characters instead of adjacent the centers of gravity or midportions thereof. The supporting members l0 have been shown as located adjacent the top of the numeral of Fig. 11 and the supporting members II as adjacent the bottom of the letter in Fig. 12, but it is to be understood that the supporting members or prongs l0 and I I may be located adjacent opposite ends of the respective characters. Jackstones embodying the features of Figs. 11 or 12 function similarly to those of the preferred embodiment.

In Fig. 13 there is shown a jackstone I3 having at opposite sides thereof supporting members or prongs l4 and I similar to those described in connection with the preferred embodiment. The prongs M and I5 of this figure are not positioned immediately opposite each other, but are located adjacent opposite ends of the character body. One of the prongs is located adjacent the top and at one side of the character body, and the other prong is located adjacent the bottom and at the opposite side of the character body. The features of this modified form of the invention are shown applied to a character body in the shape of a numeral, but they are equally applicable to characters in the shape of letters of the alphabet.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a new and improved jackstone which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and sell. The present jackstones are educational as well as entertaining. Their cost is no greater than present types of jackstones which will enable children to obtain the educational advantages afforded without extra cost and at the same time to add to the entertaining features of the game. The game encourages children to learn the appearance of numerals and letters and also may be used to teach them the principles of addition, subtraction and spelling. Also, when not playing jackstones the numbers and letters can also be used for spelling, addition and subtraction by laying them side by side. The supporting members hold the letters and numbers in an ideal position for this purpose.

As various changes may be made in the form,

construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A set of jackstones for teaching characters to be used in a game of the class described, comprising a plurality of jackstones having body portions provided with a plurality of integral projections lying in a plane and said body portions being in the configuration of difierent characters respectively and also having a plurality of integral projections extending outwardly from the planes of the respective characters at opposite sides thereof whereby the body portions having the configurations of characters are adapted to be supported at an angle to a surface upon which the jackstones are thrown.

2. A set of jackstones for teaching letters of the alphabet to be used in a game of the class described, comprising a plurality of jackstones having body portions including a plurality of integral projections lying in a plane and said body portions being in the configuration of'different letters of the alphabet respectively and also having a plurality of integral projections extending outwardly from the planes of the respective letters at opposite sides thereof whereby the body portions having the configuration of letters are adapted to be supported at an angle to a surface upon which the jackstones are thrown.

3. A set of jackstones for teaching numerals to be used in a game of the class described, comprising a plurality of jackstones having body portions including a plurality of integral projections lying in a plane and said body portions being in the configuration of different numerals respectively and also having a plurality of integral projections extending outwardly from the planes of the respective numerals atopposite sides thereof whereby the body portions having the configuration of numerals are adapted to be supported at an angle to a surface upon which the jackstones are thrown.

4. A set of jackstones for teaching characters adapted to be used in a game of the class described comprising a plurality of jackstones having body portions provided with a plurality of integral projections lying in a plane and said body portions being in the configuration of characters respectively, such as letters and numerals discernible from opposite sides thereof and also having a plurality of integral projections extending outwardly substantially perpendicularly to the planes of said characters at opposite sides thereof with the bases of said projections being substantially at the centers of gravity of the characters and the height thereof being about one-half the height of the character integral therewith, whereby the body portions having the configuration of the characters are adapted to be supported at an angle to a surface upon which the jackstones are thrown so that the nature of the particular character may be easily ascertained regardless of the position of the jackstone.

CLYDE W. MAY. 

